The Williams Record

Women’s track places 2nd at New England’s

Last weekend, women’s track and field competed at the New England Div. III Championships at Springfield. The women placed second with 85 points, behind MIT with 132 points and ahead of Tufts with 50 points.

On the track, several of the women placed and set new personal records in both distance and sprint events. Co-captain Brianne Mirecki ’14 finished fourth in the 3k-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:52.70. Emma Zehner ’17 earned a fourth- place finish as well, crossing the line of the 10k in a time of 37:49.82. Lacey Serletti ’16 took eighth in the 1500 meter in 4:43.55. Meg Richardson ’16 and Maggie Peard ’17 also competed in the 1500 meter, earning personal record times of 4:47.34 and 4:49.46, respectively. Emily Shea ’16 ran her personal best 5k in a time of 18:24.06.

In the sprints, Alyza Ngbokoli ’17 ran a phenomenal 400-meter hurdle, finishing fourth with an impressive personal record time of 63.45, the top time in the country by a first-year. Co-captain Annie Lynch ’14 placed fourth in the 200 meter with a personal record time of 25.22. Jessica O’Brien ’16 earned a sixth-place finish in the 400 meter, crossing the line in 58.33, also a personal record. Grace Weatherall ’16 placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdle, running a time of 15.17.

The women had strong performances in each of their relays as well. The 4×100 team of O’Brien, Lynch, Weatherall and co-captain Amanda Murashige ’14, placed sixth in a time of 48.19, and the 4×800 team of Peard, Richardson, Serletti and Mirecki finished sixth as well, running 9:37.10. Finally, the 4×400 team of O’Brien, Ngbokolis, Murashige and Dianna Mejia ’15, won the event in a swift 3:55.45.

In the field events, co-captain Amina Avril ’14 swept her three events for the second week in a row, winning the hammer throw with a throw of 56.86 meters, the discus with a launch of 41.55 meters and the shot put with a personal record distance of 13.65 meters. Co-captain Jenna Adams ’14 took second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.72 meters. Candice Dyce ’17 placed fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 11.27 meters, and Ellie Pitmon ’16 cleared a personal record height of 1.58 meters in the high jump.

“We had a solid meet with a lot of PRs,” Head Coach Nate Hoey said. “We have many poeple on the cusp of some major performances. Moving forward, we need to continue to focus on what we control and keep bringing positive energy each day.”

Next Friday and Saturday, the women who have qualified for the meet will travel to Westfield State to compete at the All-New England Championships.